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Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton issued a statement Monday announcing that he would testify in the Senate impeachment trial if he were subpoenaed.
"I have had to resolve the serious competing issues as best I could, based on careful consideration and study," Bolton wrote. "I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify."
The operative word there is "if" the GOP-led Senate subpoenas him. Senate Republicans and Democrats are presently deadlocked over the terms of a Senate trial and whether they will stipulate up front that witnesses will be called or save that determination for later, when the Republican majority will have sole discretion over calling witnesses.
One other question is, if Bolton is willing to respond to a congressional subpoena, why only one from the Senate? As Cornell Law professor Josh Chafetz noted, Bolton has absolutely no "plausible claim" to defy a subpoena from the House but honor one from the Senate.
"If his testimony isn't privileged, it isn't privileged," Chafetz tweeted.
Ultimately, Bolton's statement could give Democrats two points of leverage. In the upper chamber, it will increase pressure on the so-called moderate Republicans such as Sens. Susan Collins of Maine or Cory Gardner of Colorado to vote for witness testimony to be adopted up front in the rules for the Senate trial rather than being decided later by majority vote after the trial has begun.
In the lower chamber, House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff could now subpoena Bolton and call his bluff. Will Bolton then choose to ignore a House subpoena? What legal rationale would he give for favoring one chamber over the other? Or would he simply play politics to delineate?
Stay tuned.
Monday, Jan 6, 2020 · 6:59:10 PM +00:00
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Kerry Eleveld
UPDATE: In wake of Bolton announcement, Pelosi tweets statement demanding witnesses in the Senate trial: “The President & Sen. McConnell have run out of excuses. They must allow key witnesses to testify, and produce the documents Trump has blocked, so Americans can see the facts for themselves.The Senate cannot be complicit in the President's cover-up.”